President Obama is supported by a Pew survey that says rich don’t pay enough tax

The Pew Research Center says that nearly six in 10 Americans surveyed by Pew, or 58 percent, say the rich don’t pay enough in taxes, while 26 percent believe the rich do indeed pay their fair share and another 8 percent say they pay too much.

A stinging number for Mitt Romney and his campaign team. President Barack Obama has said the he supports the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, but only up to earnings of $250,000 or under.

President Obama told college students on Tuesday (August 28th) in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State University that the Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan won’t work. In discussing the Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan that “what you won’t hear from them is a path forward that meets the challenges of our time. Instead, it will be an economic plan that says if you just give folks making $3 million or more a year another $250,000 tax cut, then jobs and prosperity will magically rain down on everybody else.”

The President went on saying been there, done that and it didn’t work.

“We tried this for 10 years before I was elected. It didn’t work out so well. It didn’t work out then; it won’t work now,” said the President Obama referring to the Bush tax cuts.

“I don’t want to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut by raising taxes on the middle class. I don’t want to pay for that tax cut by cutting financial aid on 10 million students, he added. “Our economic strength doesn’t come from the top down; it comes from students and workers, and a growing, thriving middle class. That’s how we grow an economy.”

The issue of the expiring Bush tax cuts is alive and well. The Bush tax cuts will come up in the debates between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama.

Mitt Romney says, among other things, that the Bush tax cuts should become permanent. In addition, Mitt Romney has a whole series of things that he says will stimulate the economy and raise revenues through growth. Which is what the Bush tax cuts should have done in the first place, but did not.

In fact, the exact reverse occurred as the economy spun out of control during Bush’s second term when all of his policies came home to roost. The poll had some interesting findings.

The poll found that many Americans believe rich people to be intelligent and hardworking but also greedy and less honest than the average American. Nearly six in 10, or 58 percent, say the rich don’t pay enough in taxes, while 26 percent believe the rich pay their fair share and 8 percent say they pay too much.

Even among those who describe themselves as “upper class” or “upper middle class,” more than half — or 52 percent — said upper-income Americans don’t pay enough in taxes; only 10 percent said they paid too much. This upper tier was more likely to say they are more financially secure now than 10 years ago — 62 percent, compared to 44 percent for those who identified themselves as middle class and 29 percent for the lower class. They are less likely to report problems in paying rent or mortgage, losing a job, paying for medical care or other bills and cutting back on household expenses.

The findings come at the start of this week’s Republican National Convention and as both Romney and President Barack Obama seek to appeal to a broad swath of financially struggling voters who identify as middle class.

That is what the fight is all about. The middle class has taken a huge hit from the economy and the upper class have barely felt the effects.

The President put his proposed increase at Iowa State University in context.

“That means,” the President said, “that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses wouldn’t see an income tax increase. You can choose.”

Who will pay the tax increase? 2% of Americans and 3% of small businesses. The Republicans are fighting like hell to protect those 2% of Americans and 3% of small businesses.

Why?

They are the ones funding their Super PACs, of course. They will be the ones unduly influencing a Romney White House. The front man for the rich is Mitt Romney. Followed by his trusted companion, Paul Ryan.

Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions, johnpresta@att.net.

John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books